Coin-operated telephone-locking device.



No. 784,546. PATENTED MAR. 14, 1905. W. CALHOUN.

COIN OPERATED TELEPHONE LOOKING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED snPT. 18.1903.

[72 2/672 tar.- 5667265565:

4; we 44 {amokwwwv No. 784,546. Patented March 14, 1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM CALHOUN, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO NATIONAL TELEPHONE LOCK COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

COIN-OPERATED TELEPHONE-LOCKING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,546, dated March 14, 1905.

Application filed September 18, 1903. Serial No. 173,665.

T h 771? y (lmwwnr ceiver, the result is the same, and conversa- Be it known that I, lVILLIAn CALHOUN, a tion through the instrument is impossible. citizen of the Unlted States, residing in the By my device the circuit-making arm of the city and county of New York, State of New telephone is restrained in place though the 5 York,haveinventedanew and usefulImprovereceiver may be removed, and it is only by ment in Coin-Operated Telephone-Locking the operation of my device that the circuit- Devices, of which the following is a full and making arm can be allowed to rise so as to exact specification. make the circuit. 55

My invention consists of a coin-operated In the drawings, a is the telephone-stand; I0 device in which by means of an adjustable I), the receiver.

mechanism a telephone-receiver is restrained 0 is the face-plate of my device. from operation, except by the intervention as (Z is a clamp which by means of a screw a part of a releasing device of a coin or disk fastens my device to the standard of the tel- 60 of metal introduced into the restraining deephone, in which it is assisted by the clamp- 5 vice and made a feature of its operation. I ing-springs e, which also grasp the standard. desire to distinguish my invention from de- The arm-lever g, which projects through a vices having an electrical operation. slot at the side of my device, is firmly fastened My invention is essentially mechanical and at ,r/ to the arm of the telephone f, which I 5 relates only to the external mechanism of a willcallthe receiver-arm. T helever-armg 2 telephone. So far as its own operation is is pivoted near its inner end and engages the concerned it will work equally well whether ratchet of the lever j, the upper end of which the telephone is in connection or out of it. is acted upon by the spring j.

To further illustrate my invention, I refer it is a slot or groove having an opening at 7 to the accompanying drawings, in all figures the edge of the device. of which similar letters represent like parts. 70 is a thumb-piece inserted in the face of Figure 1 shows my device attached to a telethe plate 0 and having the arm h rigidly atphone-stand, a portion being cut away to show tached to it within the device. a vertical longitudinal section. Fig. 2 shows I is a coin box or receiver removably fas- 75 an end view; Fig. 3, a plan view, and Fig. 4 tened at the lever end of the slot h and held 3 illustrates the method of applying my device in position by the lugs l and Z the former to a wall instrument. of which rests upon the bottom of the cas As shown in the drawings, my invention and the latter on the spring at. consists of a device intended to be fastened '2' is a coin or metal disk, and 0 and 72 are keyupon a telephone in such a way that a leverholes in the face of the plate q. arm of my device will be secured to the re- (1 is the side of a wall telephone-desk to ceiver-supporting arm of the telephone and which one form of my invention may be apwill when in its locked position restrain the plied. telephone-arm from rising. It will be remem- It will be obvious that when my device is 5 bered that in the usual forms of the telephone fastened upon the standard and the inner end 4 the receiver is hung upon an arm which is of the lever engages the ratchet j the receiverbrought down by the weight of the receiver arm cannot be raised, and consequently the so that the electrical circuit is broken and no instrument cannot be used. In order to reuse can be made of the instrument. The purlease the receiver-arm and permit it to rise so 9 pose of suspending the receiver from the arm that the telephone may be used, it is necesis to use its weight in causing the circuit to sary to cause the lower end of the ratchet-lebe broken. If the arm be retained in its lowver y' to disengage from the inner end of the est position by any means other than the relever-arm g. This may be accomplished either by a key introduced ato or by pressure brought against it by the lever is acting upon a metallic disk introduced into the slot it, so as to lie against the upper rounded part of the ratchet-lever j.

The operation of my invention will be easily understood. When my device is fastened upon 'a telephone-stand, any person desiring to operate the telephone may either actuate the ratchet-lever with a key at 0 or, having no key, must drop a coin into the slot IL. This coin Will fall upon the ratchet-lever so that when the thum b-piece k is turned it will press against the coin, Which, being in contact with the ratchet-lever, Will actuate it and disengage the lever-arm g, so that the receiver-arm may rise, and the circuit being made the telephone may be used. As soon as the ratchet-lever moves the coin will fall through the slot into the coin-receiver Z. When it is desired to detach this receptacle, a key introduced at 1) Will force back the spring 122 and permit the removal of Z.

The size and proportions of the mechanism may be varied to adapt it to any size or thickness of coin, and as only one size can be used it will in practice be-that which is adapted to be operated by the single coin required by the local tarifl for the use of a public telephone for a local message. The method of attachment shown in Fig. 4 is adapted to the wall-desk receiver-holder. It will always be a matter of ordinary mechanical skill to adjust my invention to varying forms of telephones.

Having thus set forth my invention, What I claim as new, and-desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

In a coin-operated telephone-locking device, the combination of a lever-arm adapted to be firmly attached to the telephone-receiver arm and to control the motion of the same, a ratchet-lever arranged to act against the inner end of such lever-arm, means for keeping the two in contact, means whereby a movable metal disk may be caused to rest against the upper end of the ratchet-lever and a thumbpiece and lever adapted to press said disk against said ratchet-lever sufiiciently to actuate the same, so as to release the receiver-arm, substantially as described.

W'ILLIAM CALHOUN.

Witnesses:

LEROY H. GRINDAL, Vl'u. K. BARMORE. 

